BASKETBALL; Coleman Catches Flu; Anderson Gets Augmon

One day after he successfully returned from a two-game absence because of back spasms to score a game-high 24 points and lead New Jersey to a 112-91 victory over Minnesota at Byrne Meadowlands Arena, Derrick Coleman didn't report today. He called in sick with the flu.

The Nets, however, were expecting Coleman to make the trip to Atlanta for Friday night's game with the Hawks at the Omni along with the team's other All-Star candidate, Kenny Anderson.

The game could be especially important to Anderson. The third-year point guard from Georgia Tech will have a chance to campaign in front of discriminating pollsters -- the fans -- against Atlanta's Stacy Augmon, the third-year shooting guard from Nevada-Las Vegas. Anderson trails Chicago's B. J. Armstrong in the voting for the Eastern Conference All-Star Team and is only about 3,000 votes ahead of Augmon. The top two vote-getters automatically make the All-Star team.

"That's all right," said Anderson. "I like a challenge." No Lack of Confidence

After scoring 16 points and dishing out a game-high 9 assists against the Timberwolves, Anderson moved ahead of Foots Walker into eighth place on New Jersey's career assist list with 999 and could challenge Darwin Cook's club record of 1,970. But Anderson is looking beyond even that.

"How many more do I need to get the league record?" asked the 23-year-old Anderson. "I'm still a young man, I think I can do that," he said after being told that Magic Johnson holds the National Basketball Association record with 9,921.

While Augmon is averaging more than 15 points per game, he is not among the top 10 in any important offensive category. Anderson is the second-leading scorer on the Nets with an average of better than 18 points per game, behind Coleman's 21-point average. Anderson is fifth in the league in assists with 9.6 per game and 10th in steals with 2.09. He also averages more points than Armstrong (16.9). Coleman Seems a Shoo-In

Because Coleman was the leading Eastern Conference vote-getter among all players in the last tabulation, it is likely that he will secure one of the two starting-forward spots.

If Augmon should overtake Anderson, the Nets' point guard can only make the team if he's selected as a reserve by the coaches. Neither Coleman nor Anderson has ever made the All-Star team. Buck Williams, in 1986, was the last Nets player to play in the game.

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What could work against Anderson is Atlanta's 25-9 record, one of the best in the N.B.A.

"Perceptions change," said Coach Chuck Daly of the Nets. Daly sees no incongruity in a 16-20 team's having two All-Star candidates. Last season no Nets player made the team, though the club qualified for the playoffs for the second straight season.

"You have a lot of people gone from the league," Daly said. "In the East you've lost two by death, Reggie Lewis and Drazen Petrovic. Those two were potential All-Stars, and Michael Jordan is gone.

"You take those three out of the mix, so it opens up a lot of positions, which is good for us and our people. I hope they make it and I'm hopeful they're both on the team." Hawks Unusually Tough at Home

Until Wednesday night, Atlanta had only lost one game at home this season. A buzzer-beating 3-point shot from the left corner at the Omni by Golden State's Latrell Sprewell gave the Warriors their fifth straight victory. The Nets have also defeated the Hawks this season (on Christmas Eve). They finished December with a 7-6 record.

"That was a hundred years ago, and all I can remember now is we won," said Daly, thinking only how hard it was going to be to extend the Nets' first three-game winning streak of the season. "We've got a stretch that's probably as difficult as this team will face all year."

"We've got Atlanta in Atlanta that just lost its second game there," said Daly. "Then it's back home for a Golden State that's on fire and then it's out to the West Coast for Portland, Seattle and Golden State and then right back home for Seattle again. We're going to have to be on our best behavior and spend a lot of time in local churches."

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A version of this article appears in print on January 21, 1994, on Page B00012 of the National edition with the headline: BASKETBALL; Coleman Catches Flu; Anderson Gets Augmon. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe